The man filling Carter's boots

Luke McAlister

Luke McAlister was always going to have big boots to fill at Eden Park tomorrow night.

But now there's a Cook Strait-sized gulf between a player with serious potential and another who is at this moment the dead-set world No 1 footballer in the position.

That's the difference between 22-year-old McAlister and the man he's replacing, Daniel Carter.

McAlister got the nod yesterday when Leon MacDonald - Carter's original stand-in as he recovers from a shoulder injury - pulled out with a groin strain.

Now throw in the fact that McAlister will be the goalkicker, and that he's in a position he has not occupied much this year - and it looks a daunting prospect.

But McAlister doesn't lack confidence and making the All Blacks is merely the culmination of his rugby ambitions.

"First five's a huge position in the team, it's the driver of the car, I suppose," he said.

"To fill Dan Carter's boots will be tough but hopefully I can do that."

McAlister, more often a second five-eighth than first at Super 12 and NPC level, cut to the chase when asked about Carter's 33-point haul in the second test, a display which had him sailing off into the distance as the game's premier first five-eighth.

"I just thought Dan was the man. He was God, wasn't he?

"He's injured and I'm sure he'll be back soon. This gives me the opportunity now and hopefully I can come in and take it."

McAlister would have been an All Black by now, but for a hamstring injury on last year's tour of Italy, Wales and France.

Still, it has long seemed a case of when, not if.

This, remember, is a player who has been a national secondary schools, under-19s and Colts representative over the last few seasons.

He's had a taste of the Lions as a member of the victorious New Zealand Maori team.

"It was a hugely physical game," he said of the 19-13 win at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

"To get a taste of the way they play is a little bit of an advantage if you're chucked in to play against them," he said.

McAlister played on the Junior All Blacks tour of Australia over the last fortnight, so he's had good quality matchplay in the leadup.

And don't suggest playing the third test of a series already won makes his job any less stressful.

"It's still a huge game for the team, I don't want to lose it or anything," he said.

To get a clean sweep on the Lions would be massive and I'd like to help the team do that."

Coach Graham Henry is confident the support structure will help ease McAlister into his work tomorrow night.

"He's going to have a lot of support, [captain] Tana Umaga's right on his shoulder there, [halfback] Byron Kelleher's inside him. It won't be an issue," he said.

"The gameplan's very simple anyway, we don't need to change," he added.